A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, although much larger and thicker. However, there are also cases where shoes are glued.
Horseshoes are commonly made of steel, and are nailed to the underside of the hoof.
A variety of horseshoes, including aluminum racing plates (light or dark); there is also a variety of oxshoes at the lower right
A hipposandal, a predecessor to the horseshoe
English horseshoes from the 11th to the 19th centuries
A horse hoof is the lower extremity of each leg of a horse, the part that makes contact with the ground and carries the weight of the animal. It is both hard and flexible. It is a complex structure surrounding the distal phalanx of the 3rd digit of each of the four limbs, which is covered by soft tissue and keratinised (cornified) matter. The arteries that supply the hoof with blood are, the vena plantaris externa and vena plantaris interna, which branch off the tibialis posterior. The horse hoof encapsules one of the three metatarsus bones that are found in the hoof and heel area.
Barefoot hoof, lateral view. (1) Coronet band, (2) walls, (3) toe, (4) quarter, (5) heel, (6) bulb, (7) P2 (small pastern)
Transitioning barefoot hoof, from below. Details: (1) periople, (2) bulb, (3) frog, (4) central sulcus, (5) collateral groove, (6) heel, (7) bar, (8) seat of corn, (9) pigmented wall (external layer), (10) water line (inner unpigmented layer), (11) white line, (12) apex of frog, (13) sole, (14) toe, (15) how to measure width (fulcrum), (16) quarter, (17) how to measure length
Vascular architecture of a horse hoof
A horse's hoof being leveled by a farrier who is using a rasp.
